The Community Says YES!

By Dr. Luh Putu Upadisari (Dr. Sari) - YRS Founder and Director

YRS staff in front of the new Sanur clinic

We have just come out of a super busy few months and what a year it has been so far!

As we mentioned in our previous report, Yayasan Rama Sesana (YRS) kicked off 2013 with fine-tuning budgets and preparing for our first expansion to the Intaran Traditional Market in Sanur. As you see by the photos below, our clinic has finally been built and both the YRS staff and the local community are looking forward to holding our official opening to the public in June 2013!

While we are writing this report, myself and our Program Management Team are also preparing to meet with the local community leaders in Singaraja, Buleleng - the next location in which YRS will be expanding our services in 2014. We will be discussing the key sexual and reproductive health issues that women and men are experiencing in the region, existing services and how YRS can best network and be responsive to these issues through our clinical services and education program. We will also be preparing for the next meeting which will take place in the near future and will involve community leaders and members, representatives from other local health organisations and other key stakeholders.

During the last few months, we have also been lucky to acquire additional funding from local community groups, a small grant through AusAID (Australia's Development Program) and the Inspirasia Foundation. We also held our 5th Annual Fundraiser where we raised almost $7,000 with the support of local community members and businesses. Visit our website to read more about the event and see photos.

These additional funds mean that the target in this GlobalGiving project can now be lowered to $13,900 which will go continue to go towards YRS' Expansion Project, including staff costs, health brochures, training sessions, building costs for the Singaraja clinic and medical supplies.

We are so grateful for the support that we have seen, not only from you and Global Giving, but to the wider community. Once again, we thank you for being a part of this project and we welcome your ideas on how we can work together to attract wider support from our global community. If you haven't done so already, sign up to our Facebook and Twitter pages and keep up-to-date with the work of YRS.

YRS Project Gets Off the Ground!

By Dr. Luh Putu Upadisari (Dr. Sari) - YRS Founder and Director

A vendor and YRS client at the traditional market

We are very excited to start 2013 with a bang and see our expansion project finally get started! As like many organizations in January, Yayasan Rama Sesana (YRS) have been busy fine-tuning budgets and planning next steps with our project partners so we can get the ball rolling on our project activities. It has been incredibly energizing to have so many community leaders on board and playing such an active role in the process of expanding our services. This is a really encouraging sign and affirms how vital their participation and support will be in terms of the sustainability and effectiveness of our clinical and education services in the new locations.

The first location where YRS will focus our expansion is at the Intaran Traditional Market in Sanur, situated on the southeast coast of Bali. The area is renowned for being one of the quieter and more relaxed tourist destinations on the island however there is a very lively Balinese community behind this façade, including a high percentage that visit Sanur’s traditional markets on a daily basis. Until the space we have been allocated at the Intaran Traditional Market becomes available, we have been designated some space nearby for a temporary clinic where we can continue developing our networks with local services, start providing health services and distribute much-needed information on sexual and reproductive health to the community. Renovations begun at this site in late-January with the support from local community leaders and the Director of Tropical Building Systems construction company, who are contributing much time and energy to get the clinic up and running.

After incorporating your invaluable Global Giving contributions into our budget, YRS are now able to begin the recruitment process and are currently advertising and interviewing for two doctors, five outreach workers, one nurse, one lab technician and one finance officer. These new staff members will be spread across the current Badung Traditional Market (Central Denpasar) and the new clinic at the Intaran Traditional Market (Sanur). One of these newly recruited doctors will be delegated to designing and conducting thorough baseline research with outreach workers at the next potential clinic location in Singaraja within the regency of Buleleng (north Bali) to ensure YRS best responds to the community’s health needs.

Although YRS salaries are competitive with the public sector and other foundations operating in the field of health, it can be challenging to find quality staff who have the level of skills we require, including the ability to speak both the Indonesian and the Balinese language (which are entirely different), and who demonstrate genuine commitment to working in the social sector. Nevertheless, over the coming months we will continue to capitalize on our connections with Balinese universities and our networks in the field and are hopeful that this will help to bring about the highly skilled candidates with whom we seek.

We look forward to keeping you posted in our next report! In the meantime, we thank you once again for your support and hope you continue to walk with us on our journey.

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